Chia Milk Recipe

Since so many people have asked for my recipe for Chia Milk, I thought I'd share:

5 Tbsp Chia Seeds
2 Cups Water (plus 3-4 more cups)
1/4 cup Walnuts
2 Tbsp Almond or Cashew Butter
1 Tbsp Honey
pinch of Salt

Soak  Chia seeds & Walnuts in water 2-12 hours in the refrigerator.
Pour mixture into a high-powered blender (if you only have a regular blender it will be fine, just not as smooth).  Add nut butter, honey & salt.  Fill blender to almost full with additional water (leave room for movement in your blender).

Blend at high speed until smooth. 

Chia Milk will store for 3-5 days refrigerated.  My favorite way to use this wonderfully healthy mix is as the liquid base of a green smoothie.

Wild & Bright Blessings,

~*Rhi*~

Chocolate Chia Power Pudding

Chia seeds are high in Omega 3 fatty acids - essential nutrients that are terrific for our hearts & minds.  Omega 3's are helpful in reducing heart disease & in improving the symptoms of depression.  They've been used for thousands of years, but are relatively new to Americans.

I've been using Chia seeds on & off for years & really notice the difference in my energy & emotional wellbeing when I slack off.

Today I created a yummy, light dessert from chia that I thought I'd share:

Chocolate Chia Power Pudding

2 cups Almond milk or other nut milk (if you must use dairy, go for the low fat version)

2 Tbsp cocoa powder 

1 Tbsp goji powder (I just ground up dried goji berries from the health food store)

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp honey 

2/3 cup chia seed

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stir all ingredients together & refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  The mixture will appear too thin until the seeds soak up the liquid, but after about 30 minutes, it should be the consistency of pudding.

Top with berries for an especially yummy treat.

Wild & Bright Blessings!

~*Rhi*~

Herbal Artichoke Dip

Cooking with nutritive herbs is a great way to incorporate them into your daily life.  Nettles provide an amazing amount of nutrition.   

This recipe is "Oh my goddess YUMMY!"

Herbal Artichoke Dip

1/2 onion, diced

1 cup spinach chopped

1 cup chopped nettles (or ½ cup dried & reconstituted)

8 ounce jar marinated artichoke heart, drained & separated

1 tablespoon olive oil

2/3 cup Veganaise

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

 3 garlic cloves, minced finely

1 T dried basil

1 T dried parsley

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup vegan mozzarella (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Sauté onion & artichoke hearts in the olive oil.  When onions are tender, add nettles, garlic, basil, parsley, cayenne, pepper & continue to cook for a few moments more (until nettles are wilted).  Remove from heat & mix in garlic, veganiaise, nutritional yeast, mozzarella & stir well.  Place in shallow, oven-proof dish & bake 15 minutes.

Serve with crackers, pita or good quality bread.

Blue Sheese & Greens Pasta...Yum!!

The greens in the garden survived our chilly winter weather & I was craving them, so tonight I made

Greens, Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions

in a Blue Sheese Sauce over Pasta

Oh my gods & goddesses, it was divine!

Here's the scoop:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pound mushrooms, chopped coarsely

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Salt

Huge Pile of Greens, chopped: Dinosaur Kale, Broccoli (greens only), Swiss Chard, Chinese Spinach
3/4 package Blue Sheese

1 cup Organic, Unsweetened Silk

Pasta of your choice
1/4 cup toasted, chopped walnuts or pecans

Cook onions over medium heat in a skillet with olive oil & salt until they are almost brown & caramelized (don't cook too high, you want the soft, sweet flavor of caramelized onions); about 20 minutes.  

Prepare water for pasta & bring to a boil before you add kale to skillet. Start pasta when you add the kale to the skillet.

Add mushrooms & stalks of kale (not leaves) & cook for about 10 more minutes.   Add chopped greens & saute until softened.  Grate 1/2 of the Blue Sheese into the skillet with the veggies & stir in the 1/2 cup of milk.

Remove pasta from the water when it is almost done & add it to the skillet - it will absorb some of the extra liquid.  Toss all around & let cook over medium heat until pasta is done.

Serve in a bowl with additional, crumbled Blue Sheese & nuts.

Enjoy!


Wild & Bright Blessings,

~*Rhi*~

   )O(

Divine, Yummy & Healthy

Dates have a long history.  There is evidence that humans ate dates as early as 6,000 BCE.  Often, these wonderful delicacies were reserved for royalty.  Now, we're lucky enough to be able to find high-quality dates in most health food stores. 

Today, I was seeking lunch & came across Raw Snowballs.  These were little, round confections rolled in raw coconut.  They were heavenly, so I just had to figure out how to make them.

Raw Snowballs - Rhi's version

1 1/2 cups nuts - I used equal portions of walnuts & Brazil nuts, but many recipes call for almonds & walnuts.
13 large medjool dates (remove the pits) - use this kind, they're sweet & creamy
3 Tbsp cocoa - I actually ran out of my cocoa, but had some Giradelli Chocolate Mocha mix & discovered it's really not much more than chocolate & coffee powder, so I used that
1/2 cup raw, dried coconut - don't use the sweetened stuff in the grocery store...yuck!

Put the nuts into a food processor & whir until they're cut fine, but not creating nut-butter.  Add dates & continue to whir in the food processor until the mixture is well incorporated & looks almost like really thick & nutty brownie batter.  Form into 1 inch balls & roll in the coconut.  Refrigerate or eat. 

This made about 36 little "snowballs".  I'm not sure how many it really makes, because I kept eating them!

Wild & Bright Blessings!

~*Rhi*~

    )O(

**Oh, & I know my recipes are sometimes vague & have a lot of extra little notes in them.  Remember, I'm not a cookbook author I'm just a little kitchen witch. :)

Some Vegan Resources

Even if you're not vegan, some of these sites & books have such great recipes that you might want to check them out:

Vegan Culinary Experience This wonderful group of chefs provide a monthly BOOK of recipes, including techniques, nutritional info & some terrific articles in pdf format.  They do not send any junk e-mail!  Also, if you don't like to cook, they have a meal plan where they ship you meals. This is a great way to learn the science of great vegan cooking.

The Post Punk Kitchen - here, Isa Chandra Moskowitz has a collection of recipes, thoughts on veganism, etc.  Isa is one of the big celebs in vegan cooking.  Check her out!

Sarah Kramer has some wonderful cookbooks, she's also just a TOTALLY COOL woman!  Her blog at GoVegan ends up being about her dog, Fergus, quite a lot (which is really fun).  Her website only has autographed copies of the cookbooks, but you can purchase them directly from Amazon for a lot less if you're interested.

Notes from the Vegan Feast Kitchen.  Bryanna Clark Grogan is another fabulous recipe designer!  She brings the familiarity of meat dishes back to the vegan table.  While many of her great recipes are no longer available on the internet, she's putting out new ones regularly.  I'm especially excited to try her seitan "ham" recipe, because we are addicted to the seitan "turkey" & "beef".

I've never been disappointed with Bryanna's work!

The Fat Free Vegan Kitchen - Susan is amazing!  Her recipes should really be called oil-free, because she uses other fat sources at times, but they're all really wonderful.

Susan manages the Fat Free Vegan Recipes site, which is a place where readers can submit their own recipes.

Vegan Yum Yum is a site that is filled with mouth-watering pictures & recipes to go along with them.  Another very worthy site!

The Vegan Dad is a terrific source of recipes!  Since he's a dad, he has to feed some finicky kids, so everything is friendly food.

I'm sure I missed a whole pile of wonderful resources.  There are some terrific books out there too.  Here's my current collection of Vegan Cookbooks.

Wild & Bright Blessings!

~*Rhi*~

    )O(

I don't wanna cook!

There are evenings where I just don't feel like cooking.  Mostly, this means my darling sous chef isn't around to do the chopping, because he's at work.  In the past, I would order pizza or Chinese food & veg out in front of the television.  Now, after years of my own yummy food, I just can't bring myself to pay $30+ for lousy take-out for 2 people.

So, I've had to come up with a few strategies for the "I don't wanna cook!" nights.

• Pizza - with a few veggies & a pre-made crust, we can have yummy, vegan pizza in 30 minutes or less (LOL).  Here are a few of my pizza combos

• Vegan sausage, mushrooms, tomato sauce
• Mushrooms, onions, basil, some pre-made vegan cheese (either homemade if I have it or store-bought)
• Broccoli, vegan feta (homemade), kalamata olives & spinach
• "beef" flavored TVP, jalapenos, refried beans & vegan cheddar (store-bought)

• Risotto - we always have some veggies & arborio rice around, & that's all it really takes to make a risotto.  I pretty much just pick a broth, add wine, sauteed onions, some vegan margarine & vegan parmesan & a veggie or 2 & an herb
• Mushroom & Spinach
• Asparagus 
• Broccoli
• Winter squash
• Peas (add lemon juice)
• you get the point...experiment

• Quinoa  Bowl - I stole this from a local restaurant, Dandelion Communitea Cafe.  
• 2 servings Quinoa
• 1 can any beans, drained, rinsed & warmed
• 2 raw veggies, chopped or sliced
• Any salad dressing
• Cook the quiona (directions here).  While it's cooking, chop the veggies & cook the beans.  Spoon the quiona into a bowl, add the beans & veggies, top with dressing...mix &  eat!

• Freezer foods - just make a big batch instead of enough for your meal.  When dinner is over, take a few moments to portion out & freeze the leftovers.  Just be careful with gravies, they tend to separate when frozen & thawed.
• Soups
• Chili
• Enchiladas
• Lasagne
• Spaghetti & other pasta sauces

So, there it is...this vegan witch has more important things to do tonight than make an elaborate dinner.  I'm headed into the kitchen to tear mushrooms & spinach into a skillet of risotto that I shall stir deosil as my mind wanders.

Wild & Bright Blessings!

~*Rhi*~

    )O(

Elderberry Echinacea Syrup

It's cold & flu season.  Are you prepared?

In getting prepared for winter, one of my projects was to make Elderberry & Echinacea syrup.  Here's how:

1/2 cup dried Elderberries
3 Tbsp Echinacea
5 cups distilled water
2 1/2 cups local honey

Bring elderberries & water to a boil.  Cover & simmer for 1 hour.  Add Echinacea.  Steep for another 30 minutes.  Strain through cheesecloth & SQUEEZE to get all the goodness out.

Add honey.

Allow to cool & bottle.

Could anything be easier???

I added a 1/4 cup of brandy to the brew as a preservative.  It will keep for a few months in the refrigerator, and longer in the freezer.  This recipe made 3 bottles, so 2 now live in the freezer. 

The very moment my instincts tell me that I have a risk of catching a cold or the flu, I take 2-3 tsp syrup at least 3 times a day.  If the cold actually catches me, I increase the dose to every 2-3 hours for a couple of days.  In addition to this lovely syrup, I drink garlic, ginger & cayenne tea when at risk of a cold.  

~*Rhi*~

    )O( 

Remember my witchy friends:   *****YOU are responsible for your own health!  If you're taking prescription medications or have chronic illnesses, you MUST consult your doctor, pharmacist or trained herbalist before using herbal remedies!  The herbal info in this blog is about how I & my family use these health-promoting plant allies & is not a substitute for medical care.*****